Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, visiting Kosovo for summit meetings with the main Kosovo institutional offices took the opportunity to visit KFOR's multinational headquarters this morning, on the basis of Film City in Pristina, and meet with Italian military personnel engaged in the Kosovo Force mission.
The minister was welcomed by the commander of KFOR, general of division Guglielmo Luigi Miglietta who during a briefing presented a picture of the current operational situation, the security conditions in Kosovo and the role of KFOR soldiers.
The general underlined the importance of the fruitful cooperation between NATO, the international organizations operating in Kosovo, the Kosovar security forces and the central and local institutions for maintaining a peaceful and safe environment.
The minister's agenda was particularly full of appointments: accompanied by the Italian ambassador in Kosovo, he met the President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaci.
Minister Gentiloni then met with military personnel from the armed forces and the Arma dei Carabinieri to whom he expressed words of praise for his excellent professionalism.
"Before making you feel the closeness of the government, the parliament and my staff, I would like to transfer the words of sincere appreciation to the institutions of Kosovo. These give the measure of how useful and appreciated your work is, "said Minister Gentiloni, highlighting the importance of the contribution that the Italian armed forces, present in Kosovo since 1999, have given to NATO for the stabilizer of this delicate area of the Balkans.
General Miglietta thanked the minister that "with his visit confirms the proximity of the country and the institution to the Italian contingent in Kosovo and to all the men and women with stars engaged in operations outside the area".
Surveillance, monitoring of the territory, patrolling and monitoring of specific sensitive areas are the tasks that, in rotation, the over 5000 military of the 31 nations that make up the NATO KFOR force in Kosovo carry out.
